Sarahsville to Improve Sewer System with Financing from Ohio EPA

Sarahsville has received a low-interest loan from Ohio EPA to plan for a new wastewater collection and treatment system for the currently unsewered village.

The village plans to design a centralized system to serve Sarahsville and the neighboring Shenandoah Schools campus. Once the planning and resulting projects have been completed, the system will help eliminate failing home sewage treatment systems within the village, as well as the failing packing plant at the school. This will better protect public health and improve water quality in South Fork Buffalo Creek.

Created in 1989, the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) provides below-market interest rate loans for communities to improve their wastewater treatment systems. The interest free $27,500 loan will save Sarahsville about $2,600 when compared to market rates.

Along with improvements to publicly owned treatment works, wastewater infrastructure loans have been provided for agricultural best management practices, home sewage treatment system improvements, landfill closures and water quality-based storm water projects. The fund provides technical assistance to public wastewater systems in a variety of areas from the planning, design and construction of improvements, to enhancing the technical, managerial and financial capacity of these systems. WPCLF loans also make possible the restoration and protection of some of Ohio’s highest quality water bodies through the fund’s Water Resource Restoration Sponsor Program.

Ohio EPA’s revolving loan funds are partially supported by federal grants and designed to last indefinitely through repayment of loans and investments in bonds. The loan program is managed by Ohio EPA’s Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance, with help from the Ohio Water Development Authority. Ohio EPA is responsible for program development and implementation, individual project coordination and environmental and other technical reviews/approvals of projects seeking funds. The Ohio Water Development Authority provides financial management of the fund.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.